Math Class
by StorybrookeMaine
Summary: A collection of cute lil' conversations between Henry and Paige in school. I'm unsure of where it's gonna go, but it may include shippings such as: Mad Swan, Henrace/Henraige and Prince White. Hope you enjoy, and please, reviews are always welcome. Have fun!
1. Chapter 1

"Henry. Heeeenry."

"What now, Paige?"

"Um. Help me?"

Henry turned round in his chair, quickly shoving the storybook into his bag and kicking it under the table. Paige peered at him from behind gold curls, grinning.

"What do you need help with?" he asked, sighing. She spun the sheet of paper round so it faced him and he scanned it, realising that it was in fact the maths paper they were supposed to have been solving for the past thirty minutes. Paige poked it with her pencil.

"Question 26 . . . I don't get it," she whined, resting her elbows on the table and entwining her fingers to rest her chin. Henry looked from the paper to Paige's wide, chocolate eyes and laughs slightly, turning back around.

"I'm sorry, Paige. I can't help you there. I'm still on Question 4." He bent over his own desk and quickly scribbled out some random numbers into the boxes provided, glancing at the distracted teacher.

He would've liked to get back to Red Riding Hood's story which he'd been reading – very different from the usual tales – but Paige was persistent. She leaned over the desk and looked over his shoulder.

"Henry, why do you always read that book?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're stubborn."

Henry allowed himself a small chuckle and turned to face her again. "So are you," he replied, turning the sheet of paper on her desk back round so it faced her again. "Now get back to work."

She poked her tongue out childishly, and looked back down at her sheet. Once sure she was back to working out Question 26, Henry pulled the book back out, and continued to read.

* * *

Paige knew for a fact that Henry, once again, wasn't working, so this time she stayed quiet. _Yesterday was a disaster, _she thought, cringing at the memory. _Maybe today will be better._

So she rose out of her chair when the teacher wasn't looking, and then started to read over Henry's shoulder. It was a strange story . . . It was a fairytale.

Why was Henry reading fairytales? He was ten years old. She grew out of that nonsense years ago. But, curious as she was – one of her not-so-fine traits – she continued secretly reading his book.

_Rumplestiltskin screamed in anger, in hatred, in pain. Belle was gone. Nothing, no, nothing meant anything to him anymore. Milah was dead. Bae was gone. Belle was dead. He screamed again and emptied his fury on his mansion, destroying everything he saw. The cabinet was smashed. Vases fell to the ground and shattered. The spinning wheel was knocked down. He threw the china cups at the wall, save one, the one with the chip in the rim. He picked it up and was ready to hurl it like any other but he couldn't. He just couldn't. It was all he had left of her. _

Paige's frown grew deeper with everything she read. Rumplestiltskin and . . . Belle? The only fairytale Belle she knew of was from Beauty and the Beast. So Henry's book was saying that Rumplestiltskin was the Beast.

Well, hats off to whoever thought that one up.

_He saw himself in the mirror, wide eyes, trembling, almost crushing the chipped cup in his hand. Deep breaths and calm. The cup, he decided, would go on show forever, so he placed it on a stand in the centre of the hall. "You're a monster, Rumplestiltskin," he told himself. "You're a beast." _

Paige drew back, thinking. _That's intense for a storybook_, she thought, her eyes darting from the pages to Henry's face, deep in concentration. She watched him a moment, flick from page to page, eyes scanning the words swiftly and eyebrows drawn together.

_Come on, Paige_, she thought to herself, running a hand through her gold hair. _Be brave_.

"Henry?"

He jumped slightly, looking round at her. "Paige?" he replied, sounding a little tired. He had bags under his eyes and he stifled a yawn.

"Henry, did you sleep last night?" she asked, nervous.

"Not really."

"Why?"

"I was reading."

"Your book of twisted fairytales?"

"Yes, Paige. My book of twisted fairytales," he repeated wearily. He closed the book and leaned forward, bending over the maths work.

"Henry, talk to me . . . what's wrong?"

"Paige, we're supposed to be _working_. Come on."

"Didn't stop you from reading."

"Paige . . ." His tone sounded a little warning then.

"Okay, okay. I get it. No talk."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry if I say anything that doesn't make sense. I'm English. :P**

**Also, thanks for the reviews! Please tell me if you enjoy!**

* * *

All the way through class, Paige hadn't spoken a word to Henry. She'd mucked it up yesterday, for sure. All she could do was cringe every time he looked her way. The sun was shining, as it often was in Storybrooke, but the weather did not reflect how she felt.

"Paige?" she heard, and looked up to see Henry turned round in his chair.

"Yeah . . . ?" she asked, more than a little nervous.

He scrunched up his face and gave her a pathetic guilty look. "Sorry about yesterday," he mumbled. "I was tired."

She smiled a little. "Don't say sorry," she replied, a little awkward.

Paige knew that Henry didn't have any friends, and Henry knew she knew, but that didn't explain to either of them why he continued to block her out. All she wanted was for him to be happy, and _maybe_ she had a _teensy_ little crush on him, but he didn't need to know or anything. She was trying to be a better person, give him a friend. But she didn't understand why he was pushing her away.

Henry, on the other hand, was put on the defensive by Paige. He spent his whole life in the shadow of his mother, the _Evil Queen_, and people who talk to him _scare_ him. He would like to say his closest friend was Miss Blanchard, but he'd be worried about his mother overhearing. She hates her more than anyone else in Storybrooke, and Mayor Mills hates a fair few people.

But then Paige's suddenly entering his life, the pretty blonde that sits behind him in math, and he can't help but wonder about her. What a girl like her is doing talking to a guy like him. He'd never had any proper friends, anyone to hang out with or take home for tea, but maybe his luck was changing.

"Did you want to talk about anything in particular?" she asked, breaking the silence with pink cheeks and glancing eyes. "Or was that it?"

"No . . . I guess that was it." He gave her a brief smile and turned away, quickly grabbing a pencil to start the work.

He kept his eyes on Miss Blanchard, though. She was definitely Snow White. It worked so well . . . It made sense. The Evil Queen who hated Snow White so bad . . . Mom and Miss Blanchard. He needed a plan, though.

_How do you destroy a queen_, he thought, _when her enemies don't remember who they even are?_

He frowned, looking back at Paige. _And who is she?_

* * *

"Okay, class, because you've all been working so hard and you all deserve a treat, and as today's lesson requires partner work, I'm going to let you choose who you work with as long as it's in pairs. Sound good?"

Everyone cheered. Henry's heart sank. Choosing a partner was never easy - nobody ever wanted him.

He sighed and watched everyone grab each other's arms, chattering excitedly, and his eyes focused somehow on a group of girls at the back.

"Jessie, can I work with you?" asked Marie loudly. Eagerly, Jessie nodded and dragged Marie to find somewhere to sit.

"Paige! Over here!" Henry's eyes darted to Sophia on the other side of the classroom, then to Paige.

"Sorry, Soph. I was about to ask –"

"Hey, Paige, have you got a partner?"

"No, Ellie, but I was going to ask He–"

"Hey, Paige, who do you want –?"

"Henry."

Although most of the room continued to chat, oblivious, a silence spread across the previously chatty group of girls. They looked between one another, shrugged, and turned away from Paige, talking with each other.

Paige swallowed her blush, and walked over to him, head held high. "Henry?"

"Yes, Paige?" he replied, voice quiet.

"Can I be your partner today?"

Okay, so he had absolutely no idea as to why she was doing this. She was one of the most popular girls in the class – even talking to him was threatening her reputation. But she stared into his eyes, willing for him to say yes, and he had no other choice, right? Numbly, he nodded, taking a seat beside her at the desk on the front row.

They both exhaled a long sigh at the same time. Paige looked at Henry and smiled weakly. "So, partner, how are you?"

He couldn't bring himself to smile. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, unable to accept it. Unable to accept someone wanted him as a friend.

Paige knew what he meant and she wasn't about to pretend she didn't. "Because you mean more to me than they do. I'd call us friends. I'd call them . . . irritating."

Henry snorted, a laugh rising up inside him. "Okay, that is something I can agree on," he chuckled. "No offence or anything."

"None taken," she replied smoothly, a smile pulling at her lips. She'd never seen him properly happy before and it was a nice change to see him laugh.

"Why do you still hang out with them, if they irritate you?"

Paige giggled. "As of today, I'm guessing they probably won't let me."

There was an awkward silence as they both digested what she'd said. To Henry, that hurt, and also made him feel bad. "I – I'm sorry . . ."

"No! No, don't be. I'd much rather hang out with you than them. All they talk about is boys, girls, trends, and I don't really care. They're . . . shallow."

Paige was over the moon with joy, being able to talk to Henry – but more than that, being able to talk to Henry about things she'd never dare to talk to anyone else about.

Henry shook his head. "Paige, you should be thankful for the friends you get. I'd love to have a best friend." He looked at her, and only then did she see the ultimate loneliness in his eyes. How his mom treated him, how the guys at school teased him, how nobody wanted to be his friend because they were afraid to approach him. In everyone else's eyes he was Henry Mills, the mayor's son, the _freak_. Henry Mills, the boy at the back of the classroom with the storybook. Henry Mills, the boy who had no friends to talk to about his life. Henry Mills, who saw the councillor twice a week. But he was more than that: he was Henry Mills, a brilliant, clever boy, with so much potential and nobody to see it. Everyone in his life had blown out the spark inside him, and Paige hated that. She hated everyone who had ever alienated him.

Because every kid should have friends. Especially a kid as wonderful as him.

"I'll be your best friend," she said quietly, "if you want."


End file.
